Flying horse



Nov. 20, 1 28. 1,692,655

c. R; HARDING .FLYING' HORSE Filed May 5; 1927 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT o'FFi-cE.

FLYING HORSE.

Application filed May 5, 1927. Serial No. 189,153.

My invention relates to swings and one of its objects is the provisionof a swlng which is driven forward .by the weight of the driver actingon stirrups. Another of its objects is the provision of features whichmake the swing absolutely safe even when operated by the most carelessand reckless children. .A third object is the provision Of mechanicalmeans forsupplementing the action of gravity and thus causing the swingto move backward-1y on the return movement. .Still another object is theprovision of a swing which will appeal to children because of itsattractiveness and which will appeal to playground supervisors becauseof safety.

Having fin viewthese objects and others which will "be pointed out inthe following description, I will now refer to the drawings, in whichrFigure 1 is an illustration of the Ont-1Y6 swing with parts broken awayto disclose certaln interior constructions which would otherwise behidden.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the swing and its linkage theposition at rest being-shown in whole lines and the forward position ofthe swing with its linkage being shown in dotted lines.

The seat of the swing, which in the present instance is in the form of ahorse, 1s formed of three layers, the middle layer being cut .away inthe body of the horse to provide space for the lever mechanism. In thetop portion between the inner and outer layers is a heavy casting l0which 1s bolted or-otherwise rigidl on the opposite si es of the horse.This casting gives rigidity to the seat and 1t furnishes a base for theoperating mechanism. It is ,rovided well forward of the center lin Ofmass with an upstanding socket memher-11 which is screw threaded on itsintenor. the socket and isp votauy secured t 13 .to any suitable supportsuch as 14.. In the present instance I employ a casting 15 which is ri'dly secured to the support liand whic is provided with dependingapertured-ears for receiving the tube 12 audits pivot. Thus far theswing is merely the ordinary swing except that the seat is sus pendedinsuch a mannerthat the rider will tilt it forwardly as soon seat.

Inside the secured to the layers The tubular member 12 is fitted into ashe occupies the body is. a bentlever 16.

which is pivotally connected at 17 to the casting 10 and which extendsfirst zrearwardly and then forwardly and downwardly, terminating in thestirrups 18.

The spring 19 extends from a point in the lower portion of the bentlever 16 to apoi'nt at or near the rear extremity of the casting 10.Pivota-l ly connected to the lever 16 at .20 is a rod or bar 21 passingthrough the tubular member .12. The upper end of the ,rod or :bar 21 isconnected to one arm of the angular lever 22. "The tubular member 12 is.slitted onits rear side to permit the up and down movement of theforward arm of the lever 22. The lever 22 is pivot-ally secured to thelink ,23-r which in turn is pivotally secured to the :clamp 24 surrounding the tubular member '12. It is obvious that the up and down movement-of the stirrups 18will be communicated through the rod 21 tothe lever22. i

The casting 15 is provided with a projection to which is secured asupport 25,

the support extending rigidly in an upward and rearward direct on, Inthe present instance the support 25 consists of a pair of bars ofchanneled steel or the like which converge toward the rear end of thesupport. Pivotally secured to the support 25st 26 and 27 is a lazy tongslever having pivots 28, 29

and 30, the pivot 30 being on acurved link 5 31 which is' pivotallyconnected to a clamp 32 surrounding the tubular member 12. The limbs ofthe lazy tongs lever-progressively decrease in length. from'its upperend. The

lever 22 is connected by means of a link 33 with the lazy tongs lever atthe pivot 29, the link 33 being connected to the lever 32 by means ofthe. pivot 34. For the sake of rigidity the lower end of the lever 22 isbifurcated and is made to straddle the link 31 and the link 33 is doubleand straddles the lower portion of the lazytongs lever.

In operation'the rider seats himself on the horse which is provided witha suitable saddle. He then presses down with his feet in the stirrups18. This of course, exerts a downward force on the rod 21 and ontheforward end of the angular lever 22. This force is communicated throughthe pivot 34 pivotal points of thelazy tongs lever. As

and through the link 33 against the point 29 swing forward.

soon as this force is exerted in a direction which is out of alignmentwith the pivots of the lazy tongs lever, the point 29 serves as anabutment in the initial movement caused P by the actuation of thestirrups 18. The

force is thus reacted through the link 23 and in a forward directionagainst the tubular member 12. The rod 21 cannot move downwardly exceptas the lower end of the tubular member 12 moves forwardly.

The swing is driven forward by the downward pressure of the feet in thestirrups 18 weight by temporarily standing in the stirrups but in theinitial movement he also has the advantage of the leverage in his legs.During the forward movement of the swing the spring 19 is lengthened andthus tensioned so that on the return movement the spring willhasten therearward action toward a verticalposition of the swing, the

* remainder of the rearward movementibein such full, clear, and exactterms that its construetion and operation will be readily understood byothers skilled in the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new andA and is thus out of reach of children.

the ordinar pendulum movement which has been intensified by the spring19. i

' The main part of the actuating mechanism is considerably overhead thedrivers position The tubular support 12 is smooth and children find itdifficult and almost impossible to climb to the linkage. The childrencan therefore not be injured with broken fingers or limbs by gettingthem entangled in the operating linkage. The lever 16 is. entirelyinside the body of thehorse and is inaccessible to children. should alsobe noted that the essential part of the swin seat is the casting whichis heavy an. rigid enough to withstand the strains which are due to theaction of boisterous children. The body of the horse is utilized for tworeasons. Its form appeals to children but the main reason for its use isthe fact that its sides enclose the lever 16 and the spring 19. Itispossible of course to obtain the latter result by the use of a bodysimulating any other member and proJecting first rearwardly and animal,as for example an elephant or an ostrich. 1

Having thus described my invention in desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States is: a i

g 1. A swing including a seat rigidly secured to a depending tubularmember, said tubular member being adapted to be pivotally se-' cured atits upper extremity to an overhead su port, an o erating linkage securedto said tu ular mem r and to an overhead support at points remote fromsaid tubular member, and foot actuated means vfor imdepending member atthe lower extremity thereof, a. lever'pivotally connected to said seatand depending thereform and terminating in stirrups, a link connected tosaid lever ate point thereof, a seat secured to said and beingpositioned inside said tubular depending member and rojecting downwardlyand outwardly there rom, and a connection between said linkage and saidlink whereby downward pressure of said, stirrups will impel said swingin a forward direction.

3. Aswing including a seat, member, a lever ivotally secured to saidseat member, said ever being positioned beneath said seat member andprojecting rearwardly and i downwardly from the J pivotal connection,thereof, a tubular swing-supporting member secured to said seat memberand projecting upwardly therefrom andfadapted to be secured at itsupperextremity to an overhead support, said tubular member being providedwith an aperture in the side thereof, and a flexible swing-actuatingmechanism secured at its lower extremity to said lever and passingupwardly through said seat member and through said tubular member. andpassing.

outwardly through. the aperture in said tubular member, said swingactuatin mechanism being adapted to be secure at its upper extremit toan overhead'support at points remote rom said tubular member;

4. A swing including a seat member, a lever pivotally secured tosaidseat member, said lever beingpositionedbeheathsaid seat then downwardlyfrom the: ivotalconnection thereof, a tubular mem er securedto said seatmemberand projecting upwardly therefrom and adapted to be secured at itsupper extremity toan overhead su port, said tubular member beingprovided aperture at theside thereof, a link 'slidable operating membersecured at its lower ex: tiemity to said link and projecting outwardlyand upwardly through the aperture in said with an tubular member andadapted to be secured to an overhead support at points spaced from saidtubular member.

5. A swing including a seat member, a lever pivotally secured to saidseat member on the under side thereof and projecting rearwardly anddownwardly and terminating in stirrups at the lower extremity thereof, atubular swing-supporting member secured to said seat member to projectupwardly therefrom and adapted to be secured at its upper extremity toan overhead support, a lazy tongs linkage secured to said tubular memberintermediate the extremities thereof and projecting upwardly andrearwardly. therefrom and adapted to be secured at itsupper extremity toan overhead support at points rearwardly from said tubular support saidtubular support beingprovided with an aperture intermediate the extremities thereof for receiving the lower end portion of said lazy tongslinkage, and a connecting member between said lever and said lazy tongslinkage, said connecting member passing through said seat member andsaid tubular member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

